The Battle of Koh Chang

The Battle of Koh Chang, 1941

On January 17th, 1941, the Battle of Ko Chang took place, involving France and Thailand, which the French went on to win conclusively, attacking the compact Thai assembly of watercraft with advanced warships.

The battle would go on to stretch over a period of one month, after which time peace was negotiated to bring the war to an end.

French Tactics

The French naval forces employed what is known as guerilla tactics, in more modern warfare terms, separating into three separate groups to cover the full length of the enemy harbor anchorage site, with a spy plane, the Loire 130 flying over to recon the firepower of the Thai naval forces.

The war came into full effect when the aircraft was overpowered and sent back, by the Thai forces' anti-aircraft assault, after the Loire had been detected, sending the Thai forces into action.

This was quite a setback since the French forces had wanted to gain the upper-hand with the element of surprise, together with the fact that the Thai forces were a little better-equipped than they had originally planned for.

The French forces managed to inflict some conclusive damage, nonetheless, with a very big challenge put up by the Thai forces.

The overall plan was to arrive at the Thai fleet anchorage just before sunrise, so as to gain the advantage of the element of surprise, making use of the various little islands as cover for the ships and blocking out all escape route options for the Thai forces, which was carried out rather well but, the main reason for the French victory lay in the fact the French naval forces were simply better equipped than the Thai forces.

Thai Battle Ship Fleet

Although the Thai Navy fleet ultimately proved to be inferior to the French, it was definitely up for any fight, with an otherwise impressive collection of watercraft from Italy and Japan.